Jess Lively

Jen here, and I am happy to introduce you to the lovely, Sophie of Just Live Into It.

Sophie was actually our Boston Foodie, where she did an amazing job cooking up a delicious spread for our workshop attendees. She was the first foodie I worked with, and she truly went above and beyond my expectations. Sophie is a hard working, driven individual and I can’t wait for you to read how she lives her life with intention. Enjoy!

 

 

 

After a long, cold, dark New England winter, spending time outside has never been more important to me. Not getting fresh air and sunshine was starting to have a serious effect on my mood. I was grumpy and tired and didn’t have very much energy. Now that the days are getting lighter and longer, I am trying to spend as much time outdoors as I can. Whether it’s going for a run before work, a walk during lunch, or eating dinner on our porch, spending time outside has made a huge difference. I feel so much better with some fresh air in my system!

 

 

Though hard to admit at times, I can be big on talk but small on actions. I think up big ideas but admittedly fall short when it comes to turning any of those dreams into reality. This stems from many things, but mainly a fear of failure. In reality though, that’s no way to live your life. Without the risk, we would never have any rewards. Working for Jess is the best example of this. When I saw her posting for a Boston Foodie, it immediately perked my interest. I thought, “I could totally do that!” But after 5 minutes of being confident and excited, the self-doubt started creeping in and I made several excuses for why I shouldn’t apply. However, rather than miss out on yet another exciting opportunity, I told myself to “just do it!” Just right the email and hit the send button. It was terrifying. I was waiting on pins and needles to hear back from Jen and Jess. However, this leap of faith turned into one of the best things I’ve done post-college. By taking a risk, I gained a huge sense of accomplishment and pride, met new friends and learned so much about myself.

 

 

As someone who is definitely guilty of having their iPhone glued to their hand, I am desperately trying to break this habit. I once received an important piece of advice: every time you’re with another person and look at your phone, you’re essentially telling that person that they’re not as important as whatever is on your screen. That is not a message I want to send [many] people. But, it’s easy to fall into that habit. My boyfriend and I now have a rule: no phones on date night. Especially now that we live together, it’s very easy to take alone time for granted. Now that we have a dedicated date night for ourselves (without the company of our iPhones), those nights have become really special. We’re able to focus just on each other, our relationship, and whatever delicious food we happen to be eating that night.

 

 

Food is such a huge part of my life. At times it seems that when I’m not eating a meal, I’m thinking about the next. Spending time in the kitchen is one of my favorite ways to de-stress after a long day. I also love cooking for others. For me, there’s no better place to get together with friends than around a dinner table. However, working a full time job means that eating a real dinner at the end of the day often falls to the wayside. After a long day at work, spending the evening in the kitchen can sometimes feel more daunting than relaxing. However, I’ve found that with a little bit of planning, cooking during the week isn’t that hard at all. A stocked pantry and a rough idea of the week ahead results in great food, which fills me up both mentally and physically.

 

 

As a twenty-something, the future is equally as exciting as it is scary. There are so many “what ifs” that if I think too hard about them all, I just get overwhelmed with worry. I can’t help it! However, I’ve found that all worrying about the future does is get in the way of having fun in the now. At the end of the day, I only get to be young and frivolous once, right? I have the rest of my life to worry about the big stuff. So for now, I’m working on enjoying the moment. While I’m not throwing all caution to the wind, I’m worrying less about what’s going to happen in the next 5 years, and worrying more about how I’m going to make the next 5 days count.

 

Check out past DESIGN YOUR LIFE interviews.

In keeping with the theme of seeds, but in a completely different context, I thought this quote might hit home for those of us who are working on new projects and have yet to see a harvest.

 

Throughout our lives we encounter difficult situations.

In order to survive those challenging times, we often create a defense mechanism to help us cope, thrive, or survive – depending on the intensity of the circumstances.

If our siblings got into a lot of trouble growing up, we might have decided to “do everything on our own” and be extra independent, so that we didn’t become an extra burden to our parents.

If a relationship that grew organically over time didn’t lead to a lifelong commitment, we might be very selective and focused on the long-term potential with our next partner.

These actions are all stem from a good source.

They are seeds of truth that do help us go through challenging situations.

However, over time, our lives change.

We grow. We evolve. And we often move past the initial seed-born circumstance.

Yet quite often, we take those seeds with us to the next chapter of our lives as well.

Now that the seed and its scripting is deeply ingrained in our psyche, it becomes an automatic response.

When applied over and over again in new situations, the seed that once served our best interests, begins to form a hard shell that blocks us from connecting with others.

We might have trouble receiving help or support from others, even when we need it most. Or we might be overly pushy a new relationship.

Our hard exterior stops us from growing, or even healing those initial wounds.

I believe that the seeds in our lives which help us through difficult times, are later meant to help us receive the love we were once denied. 

Rather than harden into a shell that blocks love out, I believe the seed is meant to blossom.

This is what allows us to grow and evolve as people. To become our fullest potential. To heal the cracks that come from living in an imperfect world.

The challenge is to recognize when a seed is being used as a hard shell, and when it is meant to become a flower.

 

Lately I’ve found myself getting a bit wrapped up in a lot of different projects that have resulted in some bouts of overwhelm.

This is nothing new.

I’ve actually found myself in this position many, many times before.

Two of my greatest strengths: ideation and activation, are constantly cooking up new ideas and then putting them into action asquicklyashumanlypossible.

It’s how I’ve rolled my entire career.

However, each time I find myself in this position, I usually have a little internal ego crisis about the situation.

I get super stressed out juggling everything and trying not to let my career take over my entire life. Eventually, after a season of self-doubt, I finally get to a point where I surrender and let some things go.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the back of my mind my ego whispered, “You can’t keep continuing every project you’ve made for years on end, so you must seem kinda seem flaky.” 

But I’ve now come to a peaceful realization: bushes are meant to be pruned. 

In order to live my life with intention and design my business in a way that I love, I will constantly be coming up with new ideas and launching them.

That is just who I am.

For me to continue to become the fullest version of myself also means that I need to allow myself to evolve and prune my career as I go. 

I’m all for trying new things. But in order for me to do so – without going crazy – I’m going to need to reign in other aspects that aren’t serving me anymore. 

Because I happen to be a pretty constant “new idea” person, this may mean that I will need to prune my business more frequently than other business owners.

That doesn’t mean that something is wrong with me.

It doesn’t make me flaky.

It just means that I happen to evolve and reinvent my career quicker than some.

I don’t need to continue stagnant projects that no longer feel exciting and spirit-led, just so that I won’t disappoint some people or because I want to “keep pace” with other business owners out there.

Heck, if I lived that way I never would have closed Jess LC in the first place.

I’d just keep launching product collections on top of a million other With Intention projects and go insane.

To keep doing those projects that pump me up and stay sane, I gotta be able to have a natural and healthy pruning process on a regular basis.

Like Joyce Meyer says, “You’re pruned if you do, you’re pruned if you don’t.” 

I might as well prune with joy.

 

{Heads up! Tonight we have a Chicago Business in the City meet-up! If you are in the Windy City and have a business (or biz idea) I hope you join us!}

 

For this month’s Living Well column on The Everygirl, I’ve shared ways to say yes to the unknown.

From the moment that I launched my business full-time out of college over five years ago, to this week’s video shoot, I’ve learned certain ways to overcome the ego/fearful thoughts we have about “good scary” things we face everyday.

Hop on over to see suggestions and insights you can use in your own journey.

 

Elsewhere on the web, I’m honored to share that Blogher has syndicated my post about Online Myopia.